featured book

The Golden Key

And Other Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm (A Penguin Special from Viking)

Format

Price

Overview

The perfect Halloween literary treat: three Brothers Grimm fairy tales retold by Philip Pullman, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Golden Compass

Here are three enchanting Brothers Grimm fairy tales retold by one of the most accomplished authors of our time on their 200th anniversary. Philip Pullman, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, brings his gift for spinning tales of dark wonder to these stories that have long cast a spell on the Western imagination.

The Brothers Grimm are intimately familiar to us from such classic fairy tales as “Hansel and Gretel,” “Rumpelstiltskin,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Snow White,” “Cinderella,” “The Juniper Tree,” “Rapunzel,” and “The Frog King.” Pullman’s versions of the three stories in this Penguin Special—“The Twelve Huntsmen,” “The Buffalo-Hide Boots,” and “The Golden Key”—are not to be found anywhere else and are accompanied by personal commentary about their sources, history, and everlasting appeal. They’re among Pullman’s favorite Grimm tales, and they supplement the fifty he’s selected and retold in the upcoming volume Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm—two of which, “The Goose Girl at the Spring” and “The Three Snake Leaves,” appear here as bonus stories alongside the three feature stories.

Praise

Acclaim for Philip Pullman’s Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version

“You didn’t know you needed to reread Grimm. You do. This is a grand and great book. With confidence and modesty alike, Pullman adds just enough Pullman to remind us that the oldest stories are always best told by someone who knows how to do the job of storytelling. No grandstanding here, no posturing or poesy making. Pullman selects familiars and exotics and gives us the goods anew—the ashes never grittier, the golden shoes never more lively, and the teller’s notes concise, witty, scholarly even. Older Grimms—put them on the top of the bookcase. This one needs to be closer to hand. I read it ravenously, rapturously.”

—Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation

“I could not imagine a better emissary for the Brothers Grimm than Philip Pullman. His translations have the timeless quality of a voice speaking in a quiet room, ancient and immediate to the senses. What a pleasure it is to be reacquainted with these stories in all their swiftness, wonder, horror and charm.” —Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Brief History of the Dead“Philip Pullman’s Grimm is quite eloquent, and his commentary is witty and historically accurate. There is no doubt in my mind that the Grimms would have been delighted with what he has accomplished.” —Jack Zipes, Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota“In this pitch-perfect retelling of the Grimms’ fairy tales, Philip Pullman reminds us that the stories have lost none of their relevance or racing energy, even two hundred years after they were written down. As storyteller and sage, he preserves the flavors and aromas of fine old wines from times past and delivers them to us in sparkling new bottles.” —Maria Tatar, Harvard University; author of The Classic Fairy Tales“I’ve admired Philip Pullman since his early fantasy Galatea on through his splendid trilogy, His Dark Materials. All of his gifts, including his prose eloquence and his endless, high Romantic imagination, are manifested in this marvelous retelling of Grimm.” —Harold Bloom